


Your Beautiful Daughter

by trudetheobscure



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Pre-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 18:37:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10038803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trudetheobscure/pseuds/trudetheobscure
Summary: Pre-Movie.Lord Rikkin is preparing for Callum's intended capture, but Sophia is questioning his methods. Chief Templar elder Ellen Kaye notices something is off between the two while being petitioned for funding for the project. Sophia/Ellen.I own nothing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Who doesn't love making mountains out of molehills, i.e elaborate headcannons out of the line "how is your beautiful daughter".
> 
> I'm probably playing fast and loose with movie cannon, pls xcuse oh kaye.

Ellen listened to Lord Rikkin somberly, the usual stoic frown in place. She tapped twice on the dark wood of his desk, then stood up stiffly.  
"I can't justify the expense of your charade. Just kidnap the man. It was good enough for all the other assassins."  
"We want to acquire him... more permanently. There needs to be no search attempt. The others, fine, we just needed to check them. But this is definite. He is a direct ancestor. He is our key." Lord Rikkin's glib pitch was getting on her nerves, but she couldn't deny that the fervor in his eyes was unprecedented.  
"You are sure?" Ellen's mouth tightened.  
"Yes, your excellency. Sophia's research is conclusive. She has never been this... this excited about a subject."  
Ellen racked her memory. "Sophia?"  
"The head researcher for the Abstergo project. She is also my daughter."  
Ellen looked downward briefly as she tried to remember. She had been introduced to the team a few times, but Lord Rikkin had always presented the proposals on their behalf. No, she had definitely not been introduced personally.  
"This is her work, then? Her suggestion?"  
"Y... yes." Lord Rikkin cleared his throat.  
"Why is she not here to explain her absurd demands?"  
There was a hasty scramble at the door, and a petite, dark-haired woman burst in, slightly disheveled.  
"Because they are not mine".

\--- 

Sophia wasn't allowed in the room, but there was a pane of frosted glass through which she could peer into her father's dark office, where he was meeting with the high Templar. She strained her ears desperately, and eventually figured out that kneeling slightly (tough job, in her pencil skirt) and pressing up against the keyhole yielded the best results. One hand rested on the door, steadying her, while the other struggled awkwardly to keep a tissue clamped to her nose.  
She was bleeding again, she observed. She had been fighting with her father, he had hit her. They'd argued about Callum Lynch, again. Her father wanted to stage an execution. It was terrifying, laughable, expensive, inhumane. Not that the Templars cared, usually, but Sophia had a good thing going with the assassins - they cared just as much about the secrecy of their order to ensure silence, at least to the wider world. But Callum wasn't an assassin, and this time, Lord Rikkin wanted to end this man's life as he knew it and make it theirs.  
They had fought about this many a time, ending with her pleading right up to his meeting with Her Excellency Ellen Kaye. After letting his rage slip and smacking her nearly senseless, he had staggered backwards and made hasty promises not to ask for precisely what he was asking for now in his office. No wonder he had shooed her away. Unfortunately for him, he had bribed the wrong guard to escort her back to her room, and now here she was, fuming against his office door.  
"Why is she not here to explain her absurd demands?"  
It was too much. She dropped her tissues back into her handbag and pulled herself up by the door handle, then pushed her way in.

\---

Ellen was taken by surprise, but it took more than an unannounced appearance to really startle her. She pursed her lips at the intruder, giving her a quick once-over. The younger woman was in some distress.  
"I am sorry to interrupt, your excellency." She was breathing heavily, angry, but her wide eyes betrayed some timidity. "My father is misrepresenting my view and championing an action we simply cannot take."  
Ellen studied her, allowing time for her father to react. She was pale and dark-haired, vaguely familiar now that she thought about it. Try as she might, Ellen couldn't pull up a mental picture of the girl's mother. It had been too long, and frankly even at the time she hadn't bothered to take note which of his women Alan had ended up fathering a child with.  
Lord Rikkin was white in the face, briefly wordless.  
"Sophia, this is not appropriate." He stepped towards her fluidly, taking her by the arm. "I apologise most humbly, your excellency." He bowed his head curtly towards the Templar elder before turning his back on her, swivelling to face his daughter. Ellen tilted her head, watching Sophia's face change as Alan hissed something in her ear.  
There was a dark pause as Sophia looked up at her father resiliently. Ellen uncrossed her arms, her frown deepening.  
"You had better get out," Lord Rikkin's whispers were rising to an audible level, his grip on his daughter's arm tightening.  
Sophia quickly flicked an anxious glance from her father to the older woman.  
"Your excellency, I must - "  
"You will NOT embarass me in front of the elders." Lord Rikkin made to yank her towards the door, but Ellen Kaye's harsh bark stopped him in his tracks.  
"You will leave her at once, Alan." Her eyes were cold, her stance unflinching.  
"Speak, child." she said curtly to the girl, watching like a hawk as Rikkin relinquished his hold and took a considered step back.  
Sophia quickly backed away from the man, shocked by his outburst in the given company. She took a second to recompose herself. Ellen suddenly noticed a drop of blood congeal under the other woman's nose. She watched it form questioningly, until Sophia seemed to realize why she was under scrutiny and caught the drop in her knuckles.  
There were a lot of possible conclusions to draw from this odd scene, but Ellen was not one to draw them hastily. She was definitely a little bit perplexed, and somewhat concerned, but her features showed none of it.  
Sophia took a breath. "We cannot do what my father is suggesting. It is extreme, absurd even."  
Ellen looked down her nose at the earnest young woman. "But you do think it is important to ... acquire, this gentleman?"  
"More important than anything we have done yet. This is what we have been working for, we have traced his - "  
"Yes, yes. And I agree with you, from a financial perspective, that the suggested measures are excessive. The bribes alone - I shudder to think. Your technology is already costing a sum we struggle to motivate."  
"This will make it all worth it. I am confident we will recover the apple. But I am also confident we can do this without erasing this man's life permanently, on paper or otherwise."  
Ellen didn't need to roll her eyes, it was common knowledge the elders had grown tired of these archaic pursuits. Normally she would also have found the girl's sentiment tiresome, but somehow she found it difficult to be annoyed with her. There was a pause. "Look," Ellen started, looking at both of them. "The decision does not lie with me alone. I will make your case," she nodded perfunctorily at Alan, "to the elders. There will be a vote on this matter. I doubt they will see reason to disagree with you," she said with a sideways glance to Sophia, "but as your father is at the head of this project, his proposed plan of action must have its audience." She watched the young woman's face darken and her hands slide into her pockets. Ellen wanted to put a hand on her shoulder, to tell her both to toughen up and not to worry. Instead she merely averted her eyes and strode for the exit.  
"I will let you know about any further procedings."  
Alan Rikkin, still red in the face, coughed an attempted polite agreement. "Thank you, your excellency."  
Ellen hesitated briefly at the door, then held it open and turned back to summon Sophia with a small jerk of her head.  
The dark-haired woman cast one last dirty look at her father, then followed the high Templar out of Lord Rikkin's office.

\---

"Thank you, your excellency." Sophia echoed as the older woman shut the office door behind them. Ellen looked as if she wanted to say something, so Sophia didn't move off for a moment. She gazed up at the imposing authority she had been terrified of as a young girl, searching her stern face. Ellen watched her back, devoid of expression. Sophia thought perhaps she ought not to observe her so brazenly, especially after having made such a spectacle of herself in the office. Yet somehow she couldn't help it.  
"It was nice to meet you, Sophia." Her voice was no less crisp.  
"And you, your excellency."  
She noticed Ellen's eyes drop down her face slightly, and again Sophia became aware of a dampness there. She reached for her bag.  
"Let me." Ellen produced a dark silk hankerchief from a pocket in her heavy black robe, and proceded to wipe away the most recent drop of blood from Sophia's upper lip, tilting the young woman's pale jaw upward with freckled, bony fingers.  
Her movements were rigid but the act so uncharacteristically tender that Sophia froze in surprise.  
"I don't know what the situation is, but if he gives you any trouble, seek me out and he will have someone to answer to." Ellen Kaye and her clicking court shoes were already halfway down the corridor before Sophia found the voice to mutter a strained, confused thank you.


End file.
